OpenFields

Managing E.coli O157 disease risk in the British countryside

A Relu Policy and Practice Note (No. 35) on a project investigating the risk that E. coli O157 poses to public health and eliciting the views of scientists and stakeholders on strategies to reduce its occurrence.

Year of Publication2012

E. coli O157 mainly enters the food chain from faecal contamination of meat products, but an increasing number of cases are linked to the environment. The causes of these can include drinking of contaminated water, ingestion of soil contaminated by animal faeces and petting of farm animals. E. coli O157 poses a major risk to human health, particularly to people living in rural areas, and to visitors and tourists to the countryside. E. coli O157 has also been responsible for a number of serious food-borne outbreaks in the UK. Outbreaks drive public awareness, and concerns and reactions to them lead to demands to control this bacterium.